Management Tip of the Day: Win customers by knowing them

BOSTON (Reuters) - It can be a struggle to win customers and keep them coming back, but harnessing technology can be a way to know your customers more deeply and delivering what they want, says Harvard Business Review.

The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (http:\\www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

"Only by truly understanding your customer can you deliver what they want. Technology makes it possible to get to know your customers more deeply.

Here are three ways how:

1. Acquire customer info. Use every interaction as an opportunity to collect data, and don't rely on the customer to provide it. Loyalty programs that include automated cards can gather data on spending behavior and preferences.

2. Slice and dice the data. Don't use broad segments to create a marketing strategy. Finely parse the data so you can understand customers on a more granular level.

3. Identify and cater to core customers. Instead of emphasizing how much a customer spends in one transaction, calculate their potential worth over time. This will help you identify core customers whose loyalty it pays to earn."

- Today's management tip was adapted from the book "Harvard Business Review on Increasing Customer Loyalty."